5:30 eastern when votes will be held to decide whether or not to move forward on the pay equity bill. that's a bill that would require employers to gallon strait that wage -- to demonstrate that wage gaps between men and women doing the same work have a business justification as a result of the fact of factors other than gender. and procedural votes expected later this afternoon as well. live coverage of the senate herd on c-span2. chaplain, dr. barry l offer prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. lord god almighty, ruler of all nature, thank you for not leaving us solely to our own resources. continue to provide our lawmakers with the wisdom they need to accomplish your purposes.

protect them and their loved ones from seen and unseen dangers, empowering them to run and not become weary. lead them through these confused and troubled times to your desired destination. today, fill this chamber with your presence. may your kingdom come, and may your will be done. enable us all to live our lives in the spirit of unselfish service. we pray in your majestic name. amen. the president pro tempore:

please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 409, s. 2432. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 409 s. 2432, a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965 to provide for refinancing of certain federal student loans and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: i was saddened to learn a few minutes ago of the passing of, i know the presiding officer's friend and the friend of so many people in washington. that's tommy boggs.

tom boggs was an institution in this city. i had the good fortune to hear about the boggs family when i was, i worked here as a policeman for a number of years, going to law school. and then i went for a short period of time to the post office. and it was there his cousin gabe worked, and that's when i first started hearing about the boggs family. during that period of time hale was the house whip, and of course he and congressman begich were in alaska. he was campaigning for congressman begich, and their plane went down. and after these many, many decades the plane has never been recovered. i also had the good fortune of serving with his mom in the united states house of

representatives. she was a sweet, sweet, very accomplished woman; became ambassador to the vatican. and then of course his sister cokie roberts is a famous journalist here. so without belaboring the point, mr. president, i extend my sympathy to the entire family and want them to know that our country and washington is a much better place because of tommy boggs passing through here. mr. president following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:30 p.m. this afternoon with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. at 5:30 there will be three roll call votes, cloture on s. 2199, the paycheck fairness act. cloture on the baran and burns nomination to be members of the nuclear regulatory commission. and the filing deadline for

first-degree amendments to the paycheck fairness act is 3:00 p.m. and the filing deadline for second-degree amendments is 4:30 p.m. mr. president, all one needs to do is pick up any newspaper or watch a television show or listen to the radio, and you would know that we have many, many miles to travel before women in america are treated fairly. unfortunately, there are some in our nation who don't see a problem. but when women continue to make less than men for performing the exact same work, it's clear we still have a problem. i see it. senate democrats see it. democrats in the united states senate stand for women's equality because when women are empowered, we're all empowered. today the senate will vote on one important aspect of the unfair treatment of american women. senator barbara mikulski's

paycheck fairness act addresses paycheck gender discrimination. more than 50 years after the equal pay act, women today doing the exact same work as a man make 77 cents for every $1 that a man makes. this just isn't a woman's issue, mr. president. it's a family issue. it's an economic issue. for most americans, the answer is very simple. a woman who performs the same work as a man should be paid the same is that man. women and men support equal pay for equal work regardless of gender because it's fair. that is everyone except senate republicans. senate republicans simply cannot accept that simple notion that they should be paid the same for doing the exact same work. senate republicans believe it's fair for men to be paid more than women for doing the exact same thing. it's hard to comprehend but that's obviously what they believe. on three separate occasions over the past four years senate

republicans filibustered the paycheck fairness act. they prevented a vote on this issue, this issue of basic fairness. but today is a new opportunity for senate republicans to do what is right for american women and families. the paycheck fairness act would help close the wage disparity by empowering women to negotiate for equal pay. shouldn't a woman be able to negotiate for equal pay? this bill would give workers stronger tools to combat wage discrimination and barre tall education against employees for discussing salary information. shouldn't a woman be able to talk about wage disparity without fear of reprisal? one of the first things we passed in the obama administration was the lilly ledbetter legislation, and that's one reason we're doing this today. lilly ledbetter worked for many, many years, doing the same work as men in her position.

she learned, mr. president, that she was being paid a lot less. but the supreme court said -- the united states supreme court said too bad. you should have discovered this a lot earlier. if she would have discovered it earlier, she would have been fired. this gives workers stronger tools to combat wage discrimination and barre tall education against employees for discussing salary information. that is why we passed the lilly ledbetter legislation. shouldn't, i repeat, a woman be able to talk about wage disparity without fear of reprisal? this legislation would help secure adequate compensation for victims of gender-based pay discrimination. i ask, mr. president, shouldn't a woman be able to recoup wages that were illegally withheld? the answer, of course, is yes. these are commonsense proposals that are supported by the vast majority of americans y. is there even a debate on the issue of equal pay? it's because senate republicans continue to stifle debate on

this issue. they are filibustering yet another piece of legislation, important legislation. instead of doing what's right for working women, families and our economy, republicans are saying we won't even let the united states senate vote on this issue. republicans say that there really is no issue, that the pay gap between men and women is exaggerated. if there is one, it's okay. or republicans say that there are already strong federal laws that prevent gender-based pay discrimination. i wish it were so. some republicans say, as one did here in the senate last week, that equal pay for women is nothing more than a political show vote. but when all their excuse and explanations have been exhausted, their wives, their daughters, their granddaughters are still making 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make for doing the exact same work, and that's not fair. if republicans won't stand up for the women in their homes,

their communities and all across this nation, we senate democrats will. american women deserve better. they deserve fair wages. they deserve a fair shot at providing for their families. american women deserve equality. would the chair announce the business of the day. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:30 p.m. with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i appreciate the kind, heart-felt words of the distinguished majority leader speaking of tommy boggs, thomas hale boggs

jr. many of us knew him well. i was at georgetown law school with tommy, and we ofttimes talked about those days and the friendships we had and so many of those people are still in this town. i think of him coming down the hall. we would see each other and we'd start grinning or laughing and whoever was the client was wondering what we were laughing about. it was usually something from the law school class of 30 or 40, or this year 50 years ago. he was very, very effective. he was very good. he had an easy going attitude that somehow cloaked the fact that he had a first-class mind,

enpsyche -- encyclopedia-like knowledge. he had one unfailing attribute. he always told the truth, even if it was something you didn't want to hear. and he always kept his word. and he was a good friend. mr. president, on another matter, as one who had the privilege of being a prosecutor, i have great faith in our criminal justice system and the nen who have dedicated -- and the men and women who have dedicated their lives to making it work. but i also know that our system is not perfect. sometimes mistakes are made, and those mistakes can have a catastrophic effect. they may mean an innocent person spends his or her life in prison. or even worse, goes to prison and is executed for a crime they

had nothing to do with. but, while they're put an innocent person in jail for life or executing that innocent person, it means the person who actually committed the crime is running free and can commit the crime again. so, when these mistakes are made, lives are destroyed in many, many different ways. now we'd like to think these kind of mistakes are few and far between but they happen all the time. we saw this month two innocent men in north carolina were exonerated. they served 30 years. 30 years behind bars for a crime they did not commit. can you imagine, mr. president, being in a prison, having those doors close, having those steel

doors closing every day and knowing you're there perhaps never though leave until you die, but you're there for a crime you never committed. you know you never committed it. you know you did not commit the crime, but even worse, you know that the person who committed the crime is out there free. can you imagine? i know some of these people. i've talked with them. i know it -- and can just begino understand what it is like to be behind bars for a crime you didn't commit and knowing the person who committed the crime is out free to do it again. henry lee mccallum, his half brother leon brother were teenagers. they were arrested in 1983 for what was a heinous crime: the

rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. they were interrogated for hours and then these two mentally disabled teens gave false confessions. they were ultimately convicted of a crime they didn't commit. one was sentenced to death, and because the prosecutors and the police relied on this false confession, they say well, we have closed -- we have closed this case, we'll lock them up, guess what happened. the person who committed the crime, they took the easy way out to get a coerced confession when somebody had nothing to do with the crime. the person who they did not capture who was freed went on to rape and murder another young girl. she had the worst of all

possible circumstances. and the two men in prison lost so much. they were not there when their mother or grandmother died. they never married or had children. mr. mccollum had to be placed in isolation every time another inmate was taken to the execution chamber to keep him from harming himself, and it was only this year when a cigarette butt left at the crime scene was finally tested for d.n.a. and their names were cleared and the real perpetrator was identified. but because the work hadn't been done in the first place, the real perpetrator got out and committed another murder. the critical d.n.a. testing was made possible by a testing grant program. that's part of the innocence protection act that i wrote more than 14 years ago.

i was proud to be there with president bush when he signed it into law as part of the justice for all act of 2004. the program was named for a man whom i considered my friend, kirk bloodsworth. he was a young man just out of the marines. when he was arrested, he was convicted, sentenced to death for a heinous crime he did not commit, but he was the first person on death row to be exonerated by d.n.a. evidence. he had been convicted on eyewitness identification even though he made it very clear he wasn't anywhere near when this happened. you know, when they finally exonerated and identified who the real person was, there was somebody at the prison that said oh, yeah, we have got that guy locked up for another crime. they do look-alike, don't they?

-- they do look alike, don't they? unfortunately, hundreds of others have gone through the same hell that kirk lived. over 300 americans have been exonerated using d.n.a. testing, but then i wonder how many others are going to have to suffer before we act. the u.s. attorney in washington, d.c., announced last thursday he will launch a conviction integrity unit following five recent exonerations. similar programs exist in dallas, chicago, philadelphia, san jose and detroit. it underscores the fact that mistakes can happen all too often. any good prosecutor fears the possibility of a mistake happening because usually prosecutors are going to get convictions. they want to make sure they are prosecuting the right person. unfortunately, though, there are some who have been willing to accept less than adequate

evidence or ignore the fact that no real effort was made to find all the adequate evidence. for example, we are just beginning to understand the scope of the systemic errors committed by hair and fiber analysts at the f.b.i. crime lab in the 1980's and 1990's. so i knew as a young prosecutor, i relied on that f.b.i. crime lab. now we find that there were errors and they were hidden and covered up. errors have called into question the convictions of 2,600 defendants, including 45 on death row. a separate inquiry involving the same f.b.i. unit, more than 60 death row convictions were potentially tainted by agent misconduct. those statistics are bad enough, but according to the justice department, the inspector general, three of those

defendants were executed before their importance were notified of the misconduct. one of them would not have been eligible for the death penalty without the f.b.i.'s work. whether somebody is for or against the death penalty, it should shock our conscience, it's unacceptable. we may have executed an innocent man. i will hold the f.b.i. accountable, i will demand they take the necessary steps to make sure a systemic failure never occurs again. i know senator grassley and others share my outrage at this situation. so against the backdrop of these shocking cases, i come to the floor today, i urge the senate to take swift action. let us reauthorize the justice for all act which includes a post-conviction d.n.a. testing program. it's a lifeline to the wrongfully convicted, and there

is nothing partisan or political about ensuring that we have the right person behind bars and we're not locking up an innocent person. that's something both republicans and democrats agree on. that's why the justice for all act has the support of the ranking member of the judiciary committee, senator grassley, and the republican leader, senator mcconnell, and as i said cosponsored by me and senator cornyn. justice is a bedrock of our great country. our founders understood that a government's legitimacy is eroded every time an innocent person is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. they sought to protect against this erosion by enshrining fundamental protections for the accused in our brits. and while those protections are critical, they're not fail-safe. we have to do more.

lives are in the balance. lives are in the balance. the lives of an innocent person being locked up and the lives of potential victims because we didn't lock up the right person. dozens of exonerations made possible by the justice for all act attest enough to its value. henry lee mccollum and leon brown are just the latest examples. and just as they survived. the fact that north carolina nearly executed an innocent man should dispel any doubt this legislation is needed. it's time for the senate to pass this bipartisan justice for all reauthorization act, and i will assume as appropriate notice to both leaders, i will be asking unanimous consent that we take it up and pass it. i see my distinguished colleague and friend on the floor, and i will yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: mr. president, thank you very much. i want to spend a few moments talking about national defense. as we all know, last week in a much-anticipated address to the nation, president obama outlined a plan to defeat the islamic state in iraq and syria. i want you to know i intend to do my part to make this plan a success. i am not alone in hoping that this goal to defeat, not contain isis, will replace the half measures and disengagement that has defined the president's foreign policy to date. the president's previous comment that we don't have a strategy

yet sent the wrong signal to our allies and to our adversaries. in response to the president's address last week, congress and the american people are now seeking specifics about the new strategy. i am hopeful that the new plan is strong enough and broad enough to be successful long term. u.s. leadership and the projection of military might are critical to defeating the isis extremists. 13 years after september 11, 2001, americans need to send a unified message that we remain resolved to fight the scourge of global terrorism. isis is part of that scourge, wreaking havoc in iraq and syria, with torture, mass executions, crucifixions and plans for seventh century style

islamic caliphate. as we all know, isis broadcast its savagery through gruesome propaganda online, including the horrific murders of two americans and a british aid worker. it is clear that our efforts to date have been insufficient to overthrow this well-funded, well-equipped and sophisticated army. it will take more than limited air strikes and the modest deployment of military advisors to curb the rapid spread of isis across northern iraq and syria. the united states must be committed to building a coalition that fosters regional cooperation, dismantles the group's considerable financial network and assists the iraqi kurdish and free syrian forces. and i want to help the president in his request for authorization to train and equip these forces.

this coalition needs to include asylum majority nations who are all in with a demonstrated resolve to defeat the islamic terrorists in their own neighborhood. the cost of inaction is already high. the rise of isis in northern iraq and its operations in syria have threatened regional stability and the security of our allies in jordan, turkey, lebanon and kuwait. the involvement of foreign fighters raises fears of potential terrorist blots here at home. earlier this month, defense secretary chuck hagel said there are more than 100 u.s. citizens with passports fighting for the terrorist group. he went on to say there may be more, we don't know. the secretary of defense. secretary hagel, who will testify tomorrow before the armed services committee, has called isis -- quote -- "an

imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it's in iraq or anywhere else." unquote. shait john kerry has expressed similar alarm, saying -- quote -- "the wickedness it represents must be destroyed." unquote. i agree. but if these statements are true, then we should respond to them aggressively. like secretary hagel and secretary kerry, the american public is concerned about the threat of isis to the united states. a new report by the rurnl and nbc news says nearly seven in ten americans believe military action against isis in iraq and syria is in our national interest. americans are ready for a bold international strategy to confront these terrorists whose ruthless campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing have survived too long. these radicals have driven tens

of thousands of vaccine's yeziti and christian minorities from their homes and fears. according to news reports, thousands of civilians have been slaughtered across northwestern iraq. general jackie keene, former vice chief of staff of the u.s. army and danielle pletka, a senior vice president at the american enterprise institute, put it this way in a recent "wall street journal" op-ed. a u.s.-led international coalition can provide the military capability, including air interdiction, to deny isis freedom of movement, take away its initiative to attack at will in iraq and dramatically reduce its sanctuary in syria. in other words, with u.s. leadership and international cooperation, we can defeat this enemy, and we ought to get about the business of doing it. i believe congress should support our commander in chief

in the fight against isis. a fight that can result in victory and a peace that can be sustained. i look forward to hearing more details about the president's plans when secretary hagel and general martin dempsey testify before the armed services committee tomorrow. there are still questions to be answered. for example, if public opinion turns, will the administration lose its resolve? how long will it take to win? howfng will it take to -- how long will it take to crush isis? what is the definition of success? what is the definition of victory in this case? if we accomplish our objectives, will we once again abandon our gains as we did after the scourge in iraq? what is the plan to eliminate the terrorist group's financial

network and are the president and congressional leaders willing to find a solution to defense sequestration in order to fulfill the mission if more resources are required and more resources will be required, mr. president. addressing these questions is important to understand the specific goals and aims of the president's strategy which are yet to be fleshed out. americans and congress deserve this clarity. congress has the responsi -- responsibility to provide the resources the u.s. military needs for its missions. we do this through appropriations, through the power of the purse and the national defense authorization act, which has garnered bipartisan support for the past 52 years. under the capable leadership of chairman levin and ranking member inhofe, the armed services committee approved a bill more than three months ago. so has